The Making of Religion was published by Longmans, Green in 1898 and marked a dramatic intellectual turn. Lang argued — against the prevailing evolutionary model of religion (from animism to polytheism to monotheism) — that many “primitive” peoples had a clear conception of a High God: a supreme, moral, creative deity who was not derived from animism or ancestor worship. This “original monotheism” or “High God” thesis was controversial because it reversed the expected evolutionary sequence.
The argument drew on ethnographic evidence from Australia, Africa, and the Americas, where observers had documented beliefs in supreme deities among peoples who were otherwise classified as “primitive.” Lang’s willingness to take this evidence seriously — when many of his colleagues dismissed it as contamination from missionary contact — was intellectually courageous, though it earned him considerable opposition from the anthropological establishment.
Collecting The Making of Religion
First edition (Longmans, Green, London, 1898): Cloth binding.
Market values:
- Fine condition: $200–$400
- Very good: $75–$200
- Good: $25–$75
Projected values (2026–2036): Moderate appreciation. Lang’s most controversial scholarly work.
The High God Thesis
The Making of Religion (1898) presents Lang’s most controversial argument: that monotheism — belief in a single supreme “High God” — preceded polytheism in human religious development, inverting the standard Victorian evolutionary model (which placed monotheism at the top of a progression from animism through polytheism). Lang drew evidence from the ethnographic record of Australian Aboriginal religion and other “primitive” cultures that showed belief in a supreme being alongside animistic practices. The thesis was attacked by both sides — anthropologists thought it unscientific, theologians suspected its motives.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was Lang religious? Lang was raised in the Church of Scotland and maintained a personal faith that he rarely discussed publicly. His scholarly work on religion was conducted in an anthropological rather than theological mode, though critics noted that the “High God” thesis was conveniently compatible with Christian belief.